WHICH IS THE GREATER DISASTER?
A TSUNAMI WHICH KILLS 127,000 PEOPLE
OR
ACCEPTANCE OF GOD BY MILLIONS

Religions feed off tragedy, and the geological event in the Indian Ocean
(December 25, 2004) offered a feast for irrational and self-righteous
believers. Although it is understandable that people try to put reason
to events, it is not understandable that some people try to assign supernatural
motives to what was clearly a natural disaster.

Were the tens of thousands guilty of some sin that a demonic god found
worthy of killing them for? Islam believes exactly that. Nothing happens,
but for the will of Allah. Death of innocents is merely a way of testing
faith.

What kind of devotion does one pay to a psychopathic deity? The Buddhists
don't have it much better. They believe that this negative force was directly
caused by bad karma, that is: sin caused the earthquake and the resulting
tsunami. This at least, gives the illusion that people have some control
over their destinies. Then there are the Christians. What do they make
of this flood that Jehovah of the old testament promised he would never
visit on his creation again? If he didn't cause the tragedy, then who
did? Did a god of love create such a brutal world? Why didn't he do something
to stop the horror?

Of course, most people realize in spite of professed beliefs that a supernatural
psychopath did not create the universe. We look to science for explanations,
and perhaps in the future, a way to prevent geological events from devastating
so many human lives. Unfortunately, there is a large population that uses
calamity to justify a leap into the irrational world of 'faith'. How often,
how predicable after an horrific event to babble mindlessly in tongues,
to prostrate before the all powerful, unreasoning supernatural and to
thank it for passing you over, worship it, praise it, and discover its
will so you can pacify it and assuage its wrath.

Strike a deal with the devil. For all of you children of faith-- good
luck with that.